 "Hi Wes- My name's Tim, and I am among that group of wandering late-night 'Net voyagers, wading through '3,283,446,909' web pages, in search of........? I am a full-time wildland firefighter at the Grand Canyon and part-time grad student in environmental science at central Arizona's Prescott College. Last night I found myself searching for websites encompassing the distribution and fire interval in conifer forests of the southwestern U.S. I ended up among your little collection of photons, and it was the most enjoyable wrong turn I have ever taken. After being startled by the sunrise, I realized that my entire night had been spent poring over your webpage. Not so great for the circadian rhythyms or a 6 am wakeup, but immensely satisfying and enlightening for the mind. I wish to express my sincere thanks to you, for providing (out of plainly discernible joy, on your part) me the opportunity to take five, learn about your attractive corner of the world and feel comfortable enough doing it that six pleasurable hours can transpire. The sole complaint regarding my visit is the soreness in my posterior, which has become tolerable. Your breadth of scholarship, observant connections between patterns and causal effects in nature remind me of Muir, Leopold, and other kindred souls. It is my hope to build my own webpage someday, and I now feel, after happening upon your site, that I have found a highly praiseworthy and thoughtfully constructed model upon which to pattern this future venture. This webpage of mine is likely a year or more away, but I have assembled quite a chunk of it already, in my head. I would be thrilled to credit stylistic elements of your muse for the impetus of my own, when the time comes. Write back, if you like, and share your feelings about this plan! Again, without straying too far into adulation, please accept my thanks and rest easy in the knowledge that your spirited exposition on astrophysics, huckleberries, Pinus lambertiana, the joyous groundstake of family and everything else that comprises your page has been much appreciated by this fellow traveler. Thanks." Tim King |
"Hi Wes, I was surfing the net the other night, actually looking for a piece of Thoreau to send to a relative, and your website popped up in the search results. I ended up spending over an hour looking at the great photos you have taken and reading great quotes, etc. I just wanted to take a minute and tell you that your page is very nicely done, and it is appreciated....It's a good thing to find pages that are still of interest on the web, considering how much garbage is out there these days. I have a 10 year old son who loves the outdoors, mainly due to his grandmother working for an outdoor education branch of a local school system. We spend not nearly enough time doing things outside as we should, but as much as possible. Anyway, I won't babble on, I just wanted to tell you you have a great web site that made me actually think about priorities, which is rare these days. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing the great photos and words of wisdom." name withheld pending permission  |